San Diego's Justice Defenders

Lawyers closing billion-dollar deals, representing high-profile clients and working for the nation’s top law firms often make the headlines. But what about the attorneys who represent the indigent, the homeless, immigrants and veterans?

You know, the little guy?

Throughout San Diego, lawyers work around the clock to ensure that justice is being served for all, not just for those with big bank accounts. Whether these lawyers are protecting clients in the courtroom or connecting them with life-changing services, their efforts help transform San Diego communities into safer, more desirable places to live.

They deserve recognition too, which is why we honor the standouts here.

Justin Brooks, Director

California Innocence Project

Eighteen years. That’s how long Guy Miles sat behind bars, serving a life sentence for a bank robbery he did not commit. Then in January 2017, when he was 50, his conviction was overturned. Miles is now a free man because of the work of the California Innocence Project, which Justin Brooks directs.

“An 18-year nightmare is over,” Brooks told reporters in June, after Miles was released following the discovery of new evidence. “This is the kind of day we live for.”

When Brooks takes on a case, the deck is stacked against him. After all, his clients have already been found guilty of a crime and sentenced to many years behind bars. Moreover, the judicial system is often reluctant to reopen his clients’ cases. Justice, it is argued, has been served.

That’s not always the case, Brooks said. The impact of justice gone sour can be catastrophic — and not just for the defendants.

“Wrongful convictions hit everyone,” Brooks said. “It also undermines people’s trust in our justice system. We are working toward making it the best possible justice system.”

Brooks established the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law in the late 1990s. At the time, California’s prison system was overburdened. Indeed, there were more people on death row here than in any other state. Compounding that, the state had some of the toughest laws on the books when it came to fighting a conviction, Brooks said.

Thanks to the work of staff attorneys and hundreds of law students, the Innocence Project has freed 27 people who were wrongly convicted of crimes.

Brooks’ team has also been successful in initiating key policy changes, such as rules allowing for new evidence to be presented more easily and improvements in suspect identification procedures. Not all eyewitness accounts — on which many convictions are based — have proved to be accurate.

“With these changes, law enforcement arrests fewer innocent people and more guilty people,” Brooks said. “So, a lot of what we do is actually improving law enforcement.”

And setting innocent people free.

Mara Elliott

San Diego City Attorney

Mara Elliott was elected San Diego’s city attorney in December 2016. Since then she has encountered a number of pressing issues – everything from short-term vacation rentals to President Trump’s travel ban to SoccerCity’s legality.

But there is another issue the city attorney’s office is addressing under Elliott’s leadership, one that has been largely ignored in the past: quality-of-life crimes.

These crimes are committed by the chronically drug addicted and homeless and involve offenses such as drug possession, illegal lodging, trespassing and vandalism, she said. The people who commit these crimes often find themselves behind bars, only to be released shortly afterward to face the same challenges of drug addiction and homelessness.

“It is a revolving door for many of these individuals, but we are not getting to the root of the problem,” Elliott said. “It is not a good use of money to continue to prosecute people who really need help.”

That’s why the city attorney’s office introduced SMART, a pilot program that addresses the challenges of low-level misdemeanor offenders who cycle through the criminal justice system.

SMART stands for San Diego Misdemeanants At-risk Track.

The challenges can be steep, but the program shows promise. One SMART participant had been in and out of jail since 2001. By age 60, he had spent 601 days behind bars. His record included 18 arrests, four citations and 18 non-enforcement contacts with the San Diego police. Then he was steered into SMART, which gave him the housing, treatment and health care he needed to get off the streets. After 90 days in the program, the former habitual offender now wants to become a substance abuse counselor.

“This is a good program that makes a lot of sense,” Elliott said, “and I think when people assess it two years from now they are going to see a difference in their community.”

Renee Galente and Meghan Spieker

Human Trafficking Collaborative

Sixteen years old, living on the streets, forced into sex slavery by traffickers and cycled through the criminal justice system on prostitution and drug charges. This is a snapshot of modern-day slavery, and it exists here in San Diego.

“There is often a sense that this is not happening in our neighborhoods, but that is not true” said Meghan Spieker, a local attorney and former co-chair of the Lawyers Club of San Diego’s Human Trafficking Collaborative, or HTC.

The statistics are startling, to say the least. Human trafficking is an $800 million underground economy in San Diego, one study showed. The FBI identified our city as one of the top 13 high-intensity child prostitution areas in the nation. More than 80 percent of victims of human trafficking are from the U.S., with many coming from the homeless and runaway populations. Disturbingly, 90 percent of local high schools studied have traces of human trafficking.

To combat this, Spieker and her co-chair, Renee Galente, have been leading HTC in its efforts to prevent human trafficking and to provide resources for victims. For example, the organization coordinates education and training for spotting signs of trafficking for hotel staff, security personnel, nurses and flight attendants.

“Prevention is the gold standard, but we very much want to support our victims and survivors,” Spieker said.

Victims and survivors experience challenges in overcoming lengthy arrest records to secure housing, jobs and an education, Galente explained. One way HTC aided these victims and survivors was by pushing for a new state law, which went into effect in January, that allows survivors of sex slavery to clear their records of offenses incurred by human trafficking.

“We have to believe that increased education and awareness and advocacy is only having a positive effect on trafficking,” Galente said. “While there is much being done, there is so much more to be done.”

Tammy Lin

Immigration Attorney

Two decades ago, a couple arrived in the United States without documentation. Yes, that’s illegal. But their child served in the U.S. military – which many immigrants do out of patriotism – and went on to marry another service member. Today, the immigrant couple has two grandchildren and is eligible for permanent resident status. There’s just one catch, though: They would have to leave the country to obtain a visa to re-enter the country.

No problem, right.

This is just one of many challenging immigration issues lawyer Tammy Lin faces on a daily basis. The issues range from keeping families together and helping clients obtain citizenship to fighting deportation orders.

“Immigration is not a black or white issue,” Lin said. “It is a very gray issue that impacts everyone in our community – friends, family and employees.”

For instance, much of the workforce in biotechnology and at large corporations such as Qualcomm is made up of workers from San Diego’s immigrant population. Many Mexican nationals work in San Diego’s service industry, often traveling across the border every day for work.

“There is fear and uncertainty about how immigration laws will change,” Lin said. Under the new presidential administration, she said, more people are being detained at Otay Mesa for minor infractions and her green-card-holding clients are afraid to travel.

A few years ago, Lin left her job as a business immigration attorney to lead the Prins Asylum Program, a nonprofit that provides free legal representation to asylum seekers. Lin opened her own practice last year to focus on other immigration issues.

With Lin’s help, San Diego residents such as the couple mentioned above are able to remain in their homes and with their families. The couple is expected to be able to obtain green cards without leaving the country.

Gary Barthel

Military Law Center

Following deployment to combat zones, some of Gary Barthel’s clients return home to face a different kind of battle. Some suffer from PTSD or traumatic brain injury. Others may self-medicate with alcohol and drugs. And when these veterans end up in handcuffs, it can jeopardize employment opportunities and education and health benefits. That is when Barthel steps in.

Barthel represents active military and veterans, both domestically and abroad, in a variety of capacities. Primarily, he represents clients in civilian and military courts. On other occasions, he helps clients appeal administrative actions, improve discharge classifications and overturn security clearance decisions. Recently, he has taken a growing number of cases to Veterans Court.

Veterans Court, a program piloted in San Diego back in 2011, is a special court that hears cases of minor offenses involving U.S. veterans – especially those diagnosed with service-related illnesses. Instead of receiving criminal convictions, eligible veterans are ordered to participate in treatment programs, some of which can last up to 18 months. Veterans are brought back into court throughout the treatment process to monitor their progress. If a veteran successfully completes the treatment program, then the judge drops the charges, and the veteran leaves the courthouse without a criminal record.

“You’ve got service members who are repeatedly deployed to combat zones, and that has brought more attention to PTSD and traumatic brain injury,” Barthel said. “This is society’s way of recognizing that these sorts of combat injuries can be the cause of certain criminal behavior.”

By taking cases to Veterans Court, Barthel can help his clients stay out of jail and in their jobs. In addition, their veterans benefits, such as education and disability, are not imperiled.

“It could be that someone was young and made a mistake,” Barthel said. “And this can restrict their ability to secure employment, education or disability benefits.”

After serving 28 years in the Marine Corps, Barthel represented veterans and civilians in a downtown San Diego law firm. He left the firm in 2013 to start the Military Law Center, where he could focus on representing active service members and veterans at a more affordable rate.

So, even though he retired from the military many years ago, he continues to serve his country through legal representation.